Electrical fitting.



G. B. THOMAS. ELECTRICAL FITTING. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1912.

1, 1 1 8,827. Patented Nov. 24, 191 i 5 5 WITNESSES: J N VCNTOR ATTORNEYS UNITED stra ns PATENT onrica.

GEORGE B. THOMAS, 015 BRIDGEPORT, GO NNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE BRYANT ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CQNNECTICUT.

ELECTRICAL FITTING.

Specification of Letters Fatent. Patented Nfl'v 24 1914 Application filed November 26, 1912. Serial No. 733,638.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, GEORGE B. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States of America, and residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electrical Fittings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electric fittings and particularly to a combined switch and pilot light, the object of my invention being to provide a compact and eificient device of this character.

In the accompanying illustrative drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a fitting in which my invention is embodied in one form; Fig. 2 is a plan thereof with face plate off; Fig. 3 is a side elevation drawn to a smaller scale; Fig. 4: is a section on the line l4i, Fig. 2, drawn to a smaller scale; Fig. 5 is a dropped perspective of the pilot lamp receptacle and connectors drawn to a reduced scale: and Fig. 6 is a broken plan of portion of the face plate of the receptacle showing. the lamp hood fastening devices, drawn to a reduced scale. Fig. 7 is a diagram of the connections through the fitting.

1n. switch controlled. circuits it is, he'- quently desirable to provide an indicating or pilot light toshow at a glance the on or of? condition of the circuit. This feature is of value even when the switch is of the indicating type, since it is not only more readily seen than the switch indicator, but it also adords a warning that the circuit is still closed should the switch he accidentally short circuited or the-switch indicator fail to work. The fitting of the present invention embodies such a pilot light mounted in multiplewith a switch upon a common base. In the example shown, this fitting comprises an insulatin base 10 recessed to form a switch cham er A and a lamp chamber B, the lamp terminals in the latter being efi'ectivl'y separated and insulated from the switch terminals in the former by the chamber-forming barrier 'C integral with the base. The particular switch mechanism employed, is unimportant.

A push-button snap switch mechanism of known type is here shown provided with an indicatorsuch as illustrated in the Seeley Patent No. 936,175. Current is led to the switch 11 and 12 through straps or load terminals 25, 26 are three ed into the ends of the straps to engage the wires of the switch controlled circuit.

The lamp current is tapped from the straps 21, 22 by the screw bolts 27, 28 passing up through the base from the connecting plates 29, 30, which are electrically connected respectively to the center and shell contacts of the lamp receptacle. The shell contact 31 is provided with a narrow internal peripheral flange 32 (see Fig. 5) cut away with a portion of the shell wall to permit the shank of the plate 29 to pass therethrough while the annular head portion or ring 33 of the plate overlies the flange 32 and establishes electrical connection therewith. The plate 30 is provided with a supporting head 3% having a threaded central perforation 35 to receive the end of the screw 36 which forms the center contact of the lamp receptacle. Insulating washers 37 38 centrally perforated to permit the passage of the screw 36 therethrough, respectively insulate the head of the screw from the plate 29 and the plate 30 from the screw shell 31. The central apertures 39, 410 of the plate 29 and screw shell 31 are of greater diameter than the shank of the screw 36 so that the latter passes therethrough out of contact with these parts. It will be noted that the overlying ends of the plates 29-30 form a bridge which supports the lamp shell andcenter contact from the straps 21, 22 through the long screw bolts 27, 28.

The base is covered by a face plate 41 apertured on the one hand to permit the passage of the switch actuating push button 42 therethrough, and adjacent the latter to accommodate the bulb of the lamp 43 To protect the latter against injury I provide the face plate with a perforated dome M which may be secured in position in any suitable manner. To facilitate its'remeval for refinishing or other purpose, I provide a readily detachable engagement between the dome and the face plate. A simple device for this purpose is here shown, comprising a peripheral flange a adapted to engage beneath the edge of the lamp aperture in the face plate, and a pair of outwardly struck projections 46 spaced above the flange substantially the thickness of the face plate. When the lower periphery of the dome can not be sprung in sufliciently to permit these projections to pass up through the lamp aperture, notches 47 (Fig. 6) may be cut in the edge of the latter through which the projections pass. A slight turning of the dome then engages the lower edges of the projections above the face of the plate.

To keep the lamp firmly in its socket and prevent it from working loose Lmder the influence of vibrations or other cause, a coil spring 48 may be arranged in the head of the dome. When the face plate is adjusted this spring engages the upper portion of the lamp bulb and presses the latter down so that it cannot accidentally become unscrewed. Obviously the lamp cannot be removed without removing the entire face plate.

Among the noteworthy features of the construction may be especially mentioned its compactness. llhe combinedswitch and lamp may be installed in any standard single switch box, and although the lamp is vertically arranged, the fitting nevertheless utilizes so shallow a base that it may be installed in any partition which will accommodate the usual flush switches. While extreme compactness is thus attained, the full electrical efliciency and capacity of the operating parts are maintained to meet standard re uirements.

claim as my invention 1. A combined switch and pilot light fitting comprising a cup-shaped insulating base adapted to be mounted in an outlet box, a pair of line wire terminals at one end of the base and a pair of load wire terminals at the opposite end of the base, 'in combination with a switch and a lamp receptacle both mounted within said cup shaped base, the switch being connected in series with the line and load terminals and the lamp receptacle being bridged across on the load side of the switch, substantially as described.

2. A combined switch and pilot light fitting comprising a cup-shaped insulating base adapted to be mounted in an outlet box, a pair of line wire terminals at one end of the base and a pair of load wire terminals at the opposite end of the base, in combination with a switch and a lamp receptacle both mounted within said cup-shaped base, the switch being connected in series with the line and load terminals and the lamp receptacle being bridged across on the load side of the switch, together with a cover plate overlying said base and apertured in register with the switch and lamp receptacle, for the purpose described.

3. A. combined switch and pilot light fitting comprising a cup-shaped insulating base adapted to be mounted in an outlet box,

a pair of line wire terminals at one end of the base and a pair of load wire terminals at the opposite end of the base, in combination with a switch and a lamp" receptacle both mounted within said cup-shaped base, the switch being connected in series with the line and load terminals and the lamp receptacle being bridged across on the load side of the switch together with a cover plate overlying said base and apertured in register with the switch and lamp receptacle, together with a readily detachable lamp protecting hood mounted on said cover plate in register with the lamp receiving aperture therein.

4:. In a combined switch and pilot light fitting, a cover plate apertured to permit the passage of a lamp therethrough, in combination with a hood cletachably mounted on said plate to protect the lamp, said hood having a peripheral flange engaging beneath the plate at the edge of the lamp aperture, and outwardly struck projections overlying said plate, the aperture in the latter having notches through which said projections may pass, substantially as described.

5. A combined switch and pilot light fitting, comprising aintegral switch and line terminals and integral cooperating switch and load terminals, in combination with lamp terminals and bolts connecting the same to said integral switch and load terminals.

6. A combined switch and pilot light fitting, comprising integral switch and line terminals and integral coiiperating switch and load terminals, in combination with lamp terminals and bolts suspending said lamp from said integral switch and load terminals.

7 A combined switch and pilot light fiting, comprising line terminals and switch terminals electrically connected thereto, load terminals and cooperating switch terminals connected thereto, a base on which said parts are mounted, said base having a switch chamber and a lamp receiving chamber and shoulders on said base in the upper portion of the lamp chamber over which the load terminals lie, lamp terminals in the lamp chamber and electrical connections therefrom to said load terminals, for the purpose described.

'8. A combined switch and pilot light fitting comprising an insulating base having a switch chamber and an independent chamber for a lamp base, line terminals and load terminals mounted on said insulating base,

switch terminals connected to said line terminals, switch terminals connected to said load terminals, lamp terminals in the lamp base chamber and electrical connection therefrom to the connections between the load and switch terminals, substantially as described.

9. A combined switch and pilot light fitting comprising an insulating base having a switch chamber and an independent cham her for a lamp base, line terminals and load terminals mounted on said insulating base, switch terminals connected to said line terminals, switch-terminals connected to said load terminals, lamp terminals in the lamp base chamber and electrical connections therefrom to the connections between the load and switch terminals, in combination with a cover plate for said fitting having an aperture to accommodate the switch operating mechanism and an adjacent aperture to permit the passage of a lamp therethrough into the lamp base.

10. A combined switch and pilot light fitting comprising an insulating base having a switch chamber and an independent chamber for a lamp base, line terminals and load terminals mounted on said insulating base, switch terminals connected to said line'terminals, switch terminals connected to said so load terminals, lamp terminals in the lamp 7 base chamber and electrical connections therefrom to the connections between the load and swltch terminals, in combination with a cover plate for said fitting having an 35 aperture to accommodate the switch operating mechanism and an adjacent aperture to permit the passage of a lamp therethrough into the lamp base, and a hood detachably secured to said plate to overlie and protect an GEORGE B. THQMAS.

V fitnesses G. W. Goonnmcn,

M. Wmenn'r. 

